How to Plan the Perfect Party

With 3 kids now in their teens I’ve run a few birthday parties in my time. When you run that many parties you kind of become an expert by default! What works, what doesn’t, what leaves you pulling your hair out? The silly little things that were the biggest hit of all! One thing that absolutely worked for me every time was having a party plan! I confess, I’m a bit of a control freak! If you are one of those cruisey mum’s that can just wing it and have an awesome time then I take my hat off to you! But if like me, the overwhelm of party planning is real and you like to have your ducks in a row in advance. Don’t panic I’ve got you covered! Here’s my fail-safe schedule for planning a party to ensure everything goes smoothly. We avoid a nervous breakdown and you pull off the event feeling and looking like Martha Stewart. I can even schedule you in a couple of glasses of wine if it helps!!

Decide on a Theme

This is often the easiest decision you’ll have to make. If you’re kids are anything like mine they will have made it very clear what they would like. But before you ask them think about placing some boundaries. Location, number of kids and budget are good to consider. That way you’re not having to talk them down a level from the outset.

Set a Budget

You don’t have to be exact with this. If you have a rough idea what you want to spend, you’ll have a better idea of what’s achievable and what matters most to you. For example if your budget is $200 you could have 20 kids at $10 a head or 10 kids at $20 a head.

Write a Guest List

Now you know your budget and how many kids you want to invite you can make a guest list.

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Set a Date for your Party

If you love looking up ideas for cute themed party food and theming it all to match, a party over lunch is perfect for you. If you can’t think of anything worse, consider a 10-12 or 2-4 and you can simply lay on a cake and a few treats. Also afternoon parties give you the morning to get organised.

If you have young kids, it’s always going to be hard to fit in around the sleep times across your friendship group. So I’d recommend putting your own child’s happiness first. They have a right to be happy at their own party and you need them to be happy to make running the party less stressful!!

Location

When you are running a party yourself there is one big thing to weigh up. In your opinion, is it easier to run a party from home and clean up the house beforehand OR are you happier piling everything into the car so that you don’t have to worry about fixing up the house?

Send out the Invitations

Before you send out the invitations I recommend you do one crucial thing. Identify the friends that your child desperately wants to attend the party. Call up their parents to check they can make it on the day. Once you’ve got them locked in you can send out the invitations knowing there’ll be no tears.

Oragnise the Cake

Well this is an easy one, go on-line to Cake 2 The Rescue choose your design and you’re done! Problem solved woohoo!!

Plan the Party Schedule

Again it doesn’t have to be totally scheduled but it helps to have an idea in your head. Think about the order in which games, present opening, cake, and food is served. I often got my hubby to run the games while I did the last minute food prep. Another good idea is to do the food, activities and lastly cake. The activities make them hungry again!!

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Food Ideas

The world is your oyster when it comes to food. Pinterest is amazing for this. If you’d love to do a theme but don’t want to have to make heaps of fancy food, inventive labels can be your best friend. For a pirate theme Maltesers become cannon balls, chocolate wafers planks and twirls peg legs!

Decorating Ideas

Same goes for decorating. Decided how much time you’ve got to commit to decorating and how much you care. Then start searching Pinterest and the internet.

Games and Prizes

It’s always good to have a few party games up your sleeve, especially if you have a few more high energy guests. It’s easy to take those age old party games and give them a theme twist. Pin the tail on the donkey, the patch on the pirate, the tiara on the princess. Pick up half a dozen cheap prizes at the shops and you’re set.

Party Bag Ideas

This is where your budget really comes into play. You can end up spending a fortune trying to fill those suckers!! How many party bags have you found in the car weeks later? All the lollies eaten and the little plastic rings, balloon and whistles still inside. I often found that one nice thing or a bag of lollies in a themed bag was the biggest success.

Make a Shopping List

Now you have your food, games, decorating and party bags planned you can create a big list. Separate it into supermarket, shops and online to make it easier to read.

Start with the online shopping as it will need time to arrive. Whatever you couldn’t find buy at the shops and lastly the supermarket shop a few days before.

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Clean the Yard or House

If you can get things organised the weekend before it’s going to make the party a lot less stressful. Then all you have to do is a quick vacuum round and a wipe of the toilet bowls on the day and you’re done.

Make up the Party Bags

You can also make these up a few days before to reduce the jobs the night before. You can always put the lollies already split up in snap lock bags to keep them fresh and just tip them in on the day.

Make the Cake

A great tip is to bake the cake 2 days before and decorate the night before. That way you’re not up in the middle of the night after waiting for the cake to cool. There’s nothing worse than waking up exhausted on the morning of the party. If you’ve ordered one of our DIY Cake Kits life will be really easy!!

Make up the Party Food

If you’re planning to make up themed labels you can prepare these well in advance to make it quicker on the day. I like to lay out all the plates and bowls I’m going to use with the labels in front and then just add the food as I make it.

It’s Party Time!

It’s time to enjoy the party! There will always be a bit or running around to do to make sure the party runs smoothly, it’s unavoidable. But following our awesome party plan and knowing you have everything organised in advance means you’ll be a heap less stressed. You’ll be able to make the most of the special day with your family.

What’s your favourite party theme, food, game or tip? Love to hear your suggestions in the comments x

Flower Unicorn Cake Kit

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Your Unicorn Cake kit arrives with everything you need to create a magical rainbow unicorn. The kit shows you how to make a unicorn cake with a detailed recipe card and unicorn cake template. You’ll find it easy to make the best unicorn cake for your child’s birthday.

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Rolling pin & Cake slice

Unicorn

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The ingredients in this Cake Kit contain NO gluten, soy, dairy or nuts providing you also select the Gluten Free cake mix option.

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